A Lasting Promise
by LadyTifa26
Summary: You promised me, Cloud, that you would save me when I was in trouble, and you’ve kept that promise. Now I will return the favor.
1. Chapter 1

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Disclaimer: For all of you who don't know, FF7 is a game created by the geniuses at Squaresoft (obviously, I'm not one of them). I don't claim it or any of their characters found in this story. I'm just a crazy fan! I swear! Don't sue me!

Author's Notes: This is my first fanfic, so I'm not expecting it to be that great! Also, I haven't played FF7 in years. Please excuse me if there are any errors, or if it's just not that interesting. Oh, and don't forget to review! I'm open to whatever anyone has to say, so go for it! Thanks for your support! ~_^ Oh, and by the way, Aerith will not be resurrected in this story. Sorry! I love her, too, but there's just way too many fan fictions based on that… Anyways, on to the story!!! 

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Chapter 1

by LadyTifa26

During a cool starry night in Nibelheim, a boy with blonde, spiky hair sits rubbing his arms to keep warm at a large, empty well in the middle of the town's circle. He looks around intently, waiting for someone to come. Soon enough, a slim figure, with a blue top and blue skirt, and long, dark hair comes rushing to the side. She climbs up the towering well and sits a couple of feet from the boy. He stares as she wipes the beads of sweat off her pale forehead and smoothes her dark brown hair with her hand. Those beautiful brown eyes then turn to face him. 

"Sorry I'm late. You said you wanted to talk about something?" says the young girl.

Realizing that he was staring, he looked away. "Come this spring... I'm leaving this town for Midgar," he replied. 

"...All boys are leaving our town," she returned with no surprise to what he said. 

"But I'm different from all of them," he remarks as he stands up and climbs to the top of the well. "I'm not just going to find a job. I want to join SOLDIER. I'm going to be the best there is, just like Sephiroth!" he exclaims as he does a few squats, forgetting that he might tear the nice black suit he is wearing.

" Sephiroth... The Great Sephiroth. Isn't it hard to join SOLDIER?" she questions as she swings her dangling feet.

He doesn't answer her question. "...I probably won't be able to come back to this town for a while." He then looks around to see where Tifa sits, "Huh?"

She turns her face up to find two blue orbs looking down upon her. "Will you be in the newspapers if you do well?" she asks.

He thinks about the question for a while. "I'll try."

"Hey," interrupts the girl as the boy thinks of fame. "Why don't we make a promise? Umm, if you get really famous and I'm ever in a bind... You come save me, all right?"

"What?" He was pondering her question. _Make a… promise???_

She looked back down as she explained. "Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once."

"What?" He still didn't understand. He never made a promise to anyone.

"Come on--! Promise me----!" urges the girl.

"All right... I promise," he finally replied, even though he still didn't understand why. 

The girl smiled to herself as the boy went back to thinking of becoming a famous SOLDIER. 

"Mayor? Mayor?? Miss Tifa! Are you listening?"

The same young girl, a bit older now, sat daydreaming at her chair, staring out the window, with her cheek resting upon her hand, towards that same well.  

A pair of hands interrupts as she indulges in reminiscence.  "Oh!" She finally comes back to reality. "Sorry Cecile… what were you saying?" She sits back up at her desk in her office.

Cecile, Tifa's secretary, glares at the so-called "authority figure" in front of her. 

"What?" asks Tifa with an innocent look on her fair face.

"Are you okay today, Miss Tifa? Maybe you need to rest?"

"No, I'm fine, thanks. I've just been thinking about…" she pauses, going into thought again.

"About… what?"

"Nothing… never mind," she says as she shakes her head and looks up at Cecile.

Her eyes move down and widen at a large stack of papers in Cecile' hands, which reminded her of her duties as mayor of Nibelheim. She wondered why she even took the job in the first place, since the only job experience she had was being a tour guide of the town and a bartender in a big city called Midgar.  But how could she refuse the requests of her people? She never imagined following her father's footsteps.  What she really wanted was to be with her childhood friend, Cloud. But ever since Avalanche, the group that saved the world, split up, Cloud has been hiding away in his little house and skulking around town at night. Her busy schedule never gave her the time to spend with him. She wondered what he has been up to lately. 

"Ahem!"

Tifa snaps back to her office and rubs her face as she takes the stack of documents into her hands and places them in front of her. She sighs as she reads through the first paper, and her mind immediately goes into wonder, thinking again of that blonde spiky-haired hottie named Cloud. She looks back down toward her paper, picks up her pen, writes out her signature, and hands it to Cecile.

A confused look comes over Cecile' face as she reads the signature before her.

"Umm… Miss Tifa? Your name isn't 'Cloud Strife.'"

"Huh?" She looks over at the document. "Oh my!" She blushes as she hurriedly erases the name and writes in the correct one- _Tifa Lockhart_. Embarrassed to look at her secretary, she pretends to be focused on her work.

"Miss Tifa, if Cloud is distracting you, maybe you should go and pay him a visit? The last time I saw him, he looked lonesome and sad. It'll be good for the both of you," suggests Cecile. She could tell that Tifa had feelings for Cloud because every time she saw him or even if the word "cloud" was mentioned, Tifa's face would brighten with a heavenly glow. 

"You really think so?" She looks up at this suggestion, and then turns her head away. "But I need to…"

"Don't worry! I'll take care of things here. Just don't be too long… and don't do anything _I wouldn't _do." She smirks at Tifa. 

Tifa's face turns bright red. She then takes out a round compact mirror from her desk drawer to check herself. Her long, raven hair flows down above her rear as she unties her bun. She then stands and smoothes out any wrinkles in her sleeveless, blue dress at knee-length. 

"Alright… Do I look okay?" She twirls around for Cecile.

"You look fine, Miss Tifa," Cecile responds. She would kill to have Tifa's tone body, with long shiny hair, slim legs, and rather large cleavage. It was hard to believe that a girl like her was actually a tough kick boxer. 

Tifa takes one last glance at herself and places the mirror back into her drawer. "Are you sure you've got everything covered for me?" 

"Yes, Miss Tifa. Just go!" Cecile says to reassure her.  

Tifa takes a breath and rushes out of her office. When was the last time she actually sat down to talk with Cloud? It's been so long. The only time she's been able to talk to him was an occasional greeting when they passed each other in town. What would she talk to him about? Not her feelings for him… she wasn't ready yet. As she approached his house, she slowed her pace and walked smoothly to the door and knocked. A few seconds passed, no answer. She knocked again… Still no answer. She then took a step towards the window on the side and peered in, but there was no Cloud in sight. Maybe he was in the bathroom, she thought. She knocked a bit louder. 

"Cloud? Cloud! Are you there? It's me, Tifa!" 

She leaned back to the window and saw no one walking to the door. Her eyes moved down towards the doorknob, and she lifted her hand to slowly turn it. It was open! As she pushed the door forward, she walked in slowly to a dark, stagnant room that seemed that it hadn't been occupied for some time. The house was still the same, with Cloud's empty desk to her left, the kitchen at the far-left corner, and his bed straight ahead at the back of the room. To the right, she saw an open bathroom, but no one was in it. It never occurred to her that Cloud wouldn't be home. Maybe it would have been better if she called him first. Looking around one last time, her eyes stopped at the table in the kitchen. There was a small book on top, but not just any book. It was a journal. 

Tifa slowly walked towards the table and picked up the navy blue journal. She studied the cover.

_Should I open it?, _she thought to herself. _I never imagined Cloud keeping a journal. What would he write? Maybe something about me? _

She was curious to read what was inside, but afraid of what it may contain, or that Cloud would be angry if he ever found out… She had to know, though. Did Cloud have any feelings for Tifa? With that thought, she looked around and then pulled a red ribbon hanging out of the journal, turning the pages to the last entry.

_June 26_

_I sat at the well tonight and looked up at the stars. They constantly remind me of her sparkling eyes and cheerful face. I would give anything to hear her voice once more, to watch her dance like she did that night of the play, to look into those eyes as green as emeralds. She always smelt of flowers, and every time I see one I can't help but remember the first time I met her. I fell from the sky and her small garden of flowers broke my fall. Come to think of it, that same incident is symbolic of her saving the world. She took her time alone to pray to Holy, just as she did in the church to grow her flowers, and she saved lives, as she saved me. I know you're still out there, Aerith, and I will find you. I'm coming for you. _

Tears swelled up in Tifa's eyes. So Cloud did have feelings for Aerith. But she's gone! Why can't Cloud accept that?

Memories flashed and Cloud's words echoed through her head, remembering when he held her as he gripped with one hand on the edge of a cliff above the green glow of lifestream. "Let's go find her," said Cloud, talking more to himself than to Tifa. 

"So he kept his promise. But he will never find her! He'll only get hurt! I must find him. But how? And where?"

Suddenly, a memory of Aerith's mom, Elmyra, rushed into her head. She remembered her mentioning that Aerith said that people return to the planet after they pass away. _That's where Aerith is! That's where Cloud must be heading! He's looking for lifestream, the energy of the planet, but it's never in one place at a time._ Realizing the seriousness of the situation, and how much danger Cloud could be in, she decided that she must leave as soon as possible. 

_You promised me, Cloud, that you would save me when I was in trouble, and you've kept that promise. Now I will return the favor. _Tifa made an oath to herself that she would save Cloud, no matter what. But first of all, she had to find him… 

_~_

A/N: So… how was it? Be sure to leave your reviews! By the way, the very beginning scene where Tifa is reminiscing is also FF7's, not by my own imagination. I just thought I'd let you know that. Don't sue! 

_~_


	2. Chapter 2 NEW

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Disclaimer:

_A Lasting Promise _= Imagination of a crazy fan

FFVII characters found in this fic = property of Squaresoft

Don't sue!

~.^

A/N: Sorry it took a while for me to post up the second chapter. For the few who have read the first chapter, thanks for your reviews! As little as it is, I'm grateful to know that it's a least worth something… Anyway, on to the reading! 

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Chapter 2

by LadyTifa26

Inside Cloud's home, Tifa stood and wiped the tears from her face. That last entry in Cloud's journal was enough; she couldn't read anymore. She closed it, but she could not bring herself to put it down. _Maybe I should just take it with me. Someone else might come in and read it. It'll be safer with me than if it were left here._

She began to look around for any clues that hinted at Cloud's whereabouts. She walked into the kitchen, but only found dirty dishes in the sink and bottles strewn here and there. She went back into the living area; still there was nothing obvious around the studio house. Blank stationary lay on his desk; moth-eaten rags were stuffed into his drawer, and nothing significant was in the cabinets. She walked to his bed, lay on her back, and stared at the ceiling

_He must have spent a lot of time looking at this same ceiling… thinking about Aerith. Did I ever enter his mind? Oh Cloud, where could you be? The northern crater caved in, the Tempe of the Ancients is gone… _She shifted her hanging feet, which moved something underneath the bed.

"Huh? What could that be?" She sat up, bent down, and reached for the object under the bed. She pulled it out, and studied the thick, black book in her hand. _Please don't be another journal,_ she thought. She flipped the cover open and skimmed through the first few pages. The book contained some sort of theory about lifestream and the Ancients. She riffled through more pages, and discovered that some had been torn out.

_Darn, he must have taken the important information! But where did this book come from?_

She then turned to the back of the cover. "Professor Gast," she read aloud. _Where did Cloud get a book like this? _Suddenly she realized where she needed to go.

Tifa approached a building; old and unkempt, it looked as if it had been neglected for years. Walking through the little yard, predicting what lay on the inside of the house was not difficult. The ground was bare of any grass, weeds had grown through the brick wall, and the iron gate in front was rusty and falling apart. The white paint was chipping off the two-story European-style home, and the blue roof tiles were coming loose on top. The many French windows lined from one end to the other could have passed as the walls since there was so much dust piled up that you couldn't see inside. Tifa pushed open the cracked, wooden double-doors of the empty mansion. As she did, the creaking of it echoed throughout the large, open foyer of the Shinra Mansion.

There was no use asking if anyone was there because Tifa knew for a fact that there wasn't. Just saying anything could draw the attention of hidden monsters inside. Although, in the past, she would have walked in arrogantly not caring about making noise, but this time she was alone. She had to be careful. She walked on the right of the split staircase in the center of the home and entered one of the rooms on the right. In this room, you could see a round brick wall in the middle with old furniture stored along the walls. Tifa went up to the brick wall and opened a secret door. The door led to a spiral staircase heading down into the basement.

She walked down the wooden staircase into a dark, stagnant hallway. The walls were rock and dirt held by wooden frames. The only sources of light were small hanging lamps and candles sitting on top of stacked boxes. _Lit candles? _she thought. _Could this be from Cloud? _As she walked down the hallway, she could hear the drip of water coming from an unknown source and the flapping wings of bats. There were two door-ways at the end of the hall—one directly at the end and one to the left. She looked to the left to and a memory flashed into her head… her eyes wide, she opened the door. There were empty coffins lining the wall, and one lying in the center. Tifa walked to the center coffin and lifted the lid, expecting to find someone.

"Vincent?" she whispered.

No one was inside. Vincent, one of the members of Avalanche, was a strange man who was first discovered sleeping here in this very coffin. Tifa forgot about the room, and, after remembering, she assumed that he returned to the coffin to sleep again.

_Maybe the candles were from him and not Cloud._

She then left the room and headed towards the last door, which was ajar. Pushing it open, she looked around, and saw that it was still the same as before. Jars, beakers, and cylinders of liquid, powder, and specimens were stacked on shelves that lined the walls to the right and across from her. At the far right corner there were two large cylinders of green liquid big enough to fit a person inside. A table was in the center with tiny test tubes filled with colored water and more cylinders and beakers. To the left of Tifa was a wall where books were shelved and a small hallway in the center. This hallway was crowded with books and led to a small library at the end with a desk sitting in the middle. Tifa noticed that there were large stacks of books in disarray on the floor, some books lay opened and leaves of paper were scattered about in areas.

Did Cloud read all of these? Will I get any information from these books? Where should I start?

She walked towards one of the shelves in the small hallway, grabbed a book, and flipped through it. Nothing. Then she took anther book and did the same. She continued with this process for a while, but she could not find anything that would help her.

"Ahem."

As soft as it was, the silence made it seem like a shout. Tifa jumped and dropped her book, frozen and afraid to turn around. But slowly she did…

"Vincent?"

"…" The red cloaked man with long, dark hair stood with arms folded across his chest. Under his cloak, he wore a black shirt and black trousers, along with black pointy boots. He was still the pale, slim, and silent man that Tifa had come to know during her escapade with Cloud and Avalanche.

"Don't ever scare me like that! Sneaking up on me… How long were you standing there?"

"… Not long."

"Hmph."

Tifa and Vincent both stared at each other, and then Vincent looked away and focused on one of the shelves.

"What are you doing here?" asked Tifa.

"… I should be asking you the same thing."

She looked away. "I'm looking for Cloud… He left… to find Aeris."

"…"

"I thought I could find something here that would help me find him… but there's nothing. It seems that he took all the important pages…"

"…"

"What are you doing down here, anyway???"

"… I live here."

"Live here?! Oh… yeah." There was silence for a  while. "Did you see Cloud?"

"…Yes."

"What? And do you know where he went? Did he say anything to you?"

"…No. And… no." His eyes were still fixed on one of the shelves.

"So, you saw him here. But you never talked to him?" Tifa was getting frustrated.

"… What he does is none of my business."

"Don't you know that he went to fine Aeris? He's putting himself in danger! We have to help him!!!"

Vincent turned to Tifa. "We?" he questioned, but with an expressionless face.

"Yes! I can't do this all on my own. You're coming with me. Please, Vincent. I need your help."

"Vincent pondered her question… or rather, her demand. Would he go with Tifa? What Cloud did was really none of his business, but the way Tifa sounded was as of Cloud was going to get himself killed. It's true, pursuing a dead girl would lead to nothing… maybe even danger. But it's been so long since Vincent had been on a journey. Maybe he should go, for the heck of it? Perhaps he agreed because he knew how it was to lose a loved one that abandoned you for someone or something else, putting themselves at risk. Of course, he would keep this to himself.

"… I'll go."

Tifa jumped for joy. "Oh thank you so much! First thing, you're going to help me go through the rest of these books."

Vincent looked around the library. "You're not going to find anything."

"What? How do you know?"

"I've read through those books. And you were right that Cloud took the ones that you need."

"I knew it!" she grunted. "So how are we going to find him?"

"… I know a place… that may help us find where he's going."

"Really? Where?"

"It's far from here… on the other continent."

"Where? Where??"

"We can't go there alone."

"WHERE?!?!"

Vincent raised an eyebrow at Tifa and then looked away. "First get the others. Then I will tell you."

"HMPH! Fine, whatever you say. My PHS is in my office. Follow me." And at that, Tifa ran out of Shinra Mansion, not looking behind or waiting to see if Vincent was following.

At Tifa's office…

"Cecile!" Tifa yelled as she barged in and slammed the door.

Cecile sat up from her secretary's desk. "Miss Tifa, what's wrong?"

"I must leave as soon as possible," Tifa told her as she walked into her office and started looking for her PHS.

"Leave where? Why?" Cecile asked as she watched her boss open drawers and throw things around, obviously searching for something.

"Something came up. It's very important. I need you to take care of things for me while I'm gone," Tifa said as she rummaged around her office.

"Does… Does it have something to do with Cloud?"

Tifa stopped and looked up at Cecile. "Yes… he's gone. I have to find him."

"Gone? Maybe he went on vacation, or maybe…"

"No, Cecile. I know he's gone someplace else… and he might end up hurting himself."

Cecile looked down and said nothing.

"AHA! I found it!" Tifa screamed and held up her PHS.

"What? All this mess for that little thing? You could have just asked me where it was an…"

"AAGGGHHH!!! NOOO!!!"

"AAGGHH!!! WHAT?!"

"My PHS… It's not working! I have to call my friends!"

"Umm… how about phones?" suggested Cecile.

"Phones? Oh… I never thought about that. But… we've never exchanged phone numbers."

A bead of sweat appeared on Cecile's brow as Tifa scratched her head in thought.

"Ahem."

"AGH!" screamed Tifa and Cecile in unison. They both turned to see Vincent leaning on the wall next to the door with arms folded, as always. "VINCENT! I told you not to scare me like that!"

Cecile ogled Vincent, staring straight at his crimson eyes, but not because she was scared… she seemed attracted to him.

Vincent looked at Tifa and then to Cecile and then to the floor. He took out a small device from under his cloak and held it out to Tifa.

"OH VINCENT! A PHS! THANK YOU SO MUCH!"

She grabbed it from his hand and began dialing random numbers. She held it up to her hear, looked at Cecile and Vincent, and then walked outside to talk to the other person on the other end.

"Hey Cid? Yeah, it's Tifa. Listen…" She closed the door.

Silence filled the room as Vincent stayed leaning on the wall, and Cecile stared at Vincent. He then shifted a little, signaling to Cecile that her gaze upon him was making him uncomfortable. Noticing, she immediately looked away and started blushing.

"Ahem! So… Vincent. You must be part of Avalanche I assume." She said, not looking at him.

He gave a short nod, moving his head up once and down once.

"Oh… that's nice. So, where do you live?"

Vincent pointed to the back of the room. Cecile realized he meant the Shinra Mansion.

"OOHH! There? The Shinra Mansion, huh? I always thought that place was abandoned… I mean, no offense…" She started to feel embarrassed again.

"…"

Cecile turned around and noticed the havoc that Tifa had created in her office. She squatted down and started picking up papers from the floor and muttered something about a typhoon and the mess she would have to clean. Vincent merely raised an eyebrow at this, and then closed his eyes as he stayed leaning against the wall.

After a while, the door opened and Tifa reentered.

"It's all set. Cid will be coming here in the morning with the rest of the gang."

"Shall I make arrangements for them at the inn?" asked Cecile.

"Oh yes, good thinking! I'm going home to pack some necessities… And you Vincent?" She turned to him.

"…"

"Hmph. Okay… Well, go do whatever it is that you do. Just make sure you meet us at the inn in the morning. Don't forget, you have to tell us where this place is."

Vincent nodded stood up straight, and walked out.

Tifa shook her head. "That man… I'll never understand him. Then again, all men are hard to understand." She looked to Cecile, who as gaping after Vincent. "Hey!"

"Oh!" Cecile blushed and turned away. "Umm… I'll go make arrangements now." She hurried off to the inn.

"Hmm…" Tifa suspected that Cecile had a crush on Vincent. "That would be an odd pair," she thought aloud, and then thought of Cloud. 

"Oh, Cloud. Where are you?" she sighed as she looked up to the sky. Hues of orange, pink, and purple blended in with blue as the sun began to set. A breeze began to blow, and Tifa rubbed her arms after getting a chill. She then walked towards her house to prepare for a sleepless night and what she knew would be a long journey that would start tomorrow. 

~

Thanks again for reading! And don't forget to review! I don't care what you say, just as long as I get something. I'd be so happy… and more inspiration would add to the little that I have right now. ~_^


	3. Intermission

Disclaimer: All the FF7 characters in my story belong to Squaresoft. That's that!

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Intermission

Tifa stops staring at the sunset and looks through her script book.

"Hey! Where's the rest of my lines??? The rest of the pages are blank! Don't tell me that's the end."

She looks around for an answer, but only sees crew moving around. Cecile is fixing her hair and the rest of the FF7 gang are playing a game of poker.

"Where's is she?!?!"

Cid looks up from his cards.

"Where's who?" he asks as his cigarette moves up and down in between his lips.

"The one who created this darn story!!!" she fumes and runs to a trailer. 

Tifa slams open the door. "HEY! WHAT'S WITH THE STORY! Where's the rest of my lines?"

LadyTifa26 wakes up from a desk, puffy-eyed, with drool sliding down her mouth. "Wha…???"

"Eww!" She looks down on the pile of books LadyTifa26 was sleeping on.

"Oooo… is that the rest of the story?" She walks over and picks up a book.

"Japanese 3???" she reads aloud. She then picks up a couple more books. "Pre-Calculus? American Government?? British Literature?!?! What the heck is all this stuff and what does it have to do with the story?!?!?!"

"Umm… uhh… err… I'M STUDYING RIGHT NOW!!!"

"Studying?! What about the story?!?!"

"We have to go on a break for now… I have exams next week! Please… and then I'll get straight to the story…"

"Fine! It better be good then."

"Don't worry! I won't disappoint you or my fans!"

"Fans… what fans???"

LadyTifa26 starts tearing… "… You're mean!"

~

Yup! Sorry to anyone who has been reading my story… The next chapter won't be posted up until a week or so… You know how it is with exams. SORRY!!! DON'T HURT ME FOR PUTTING THIS UP!!! *runs and hides*


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